2016 top General Assembly issues

Barbara Haddock Taylor / Baltimore Sun

For the first time since 2005, the General Assembly will convene with a budget surplus – about $500 million at of the end of the current fiscal year. Much of the debate will center on whether to use that for new spending or tax reductions.

Leading lawmakers have indicated they want legislation to reduce the prison population, using the savings on programs to help keep others out of jail. A bipartisan panel has proposed an overhaul of the parole and probation system, as well as putting first-time drug-possession offenders in treatment instead of prison. There's support for some proposals to make it easier to discipline police officers by changing the Law Enforcement Officers' Bill of Rights. Lawmakers are expected to override Hogan's veto of a bill that decriminalized possession of marijuana paraphernalia.